I had the privilege of spending two months as an intern Sound Designer in Switzerland. As a Media student with a firm Minor in Sound Design I faced the learning opportunity of a lifetime designing atmospheres and audio clues for an upcoming escape room at Houdini’s Quest, a company known for their lovingly designed and carefully decorated escape rooms in an old leatherworking factory in the picturesque town of Frauenfeld. These two months were to consist of fairly entrepreneur-like creation and upkeep of the aforementioned audio elements as per my employer’s requirements, as well as learning some cutting-edge skills in software with Touch Designer and in hardware by assisting the assembly of some of the hidden elements and wiring within the room furnishings. I got to learn my job rather hands-on by ideating and troubleshooting both independently and along with my supervisor, resulting in a rather detail-oriented and thorough process.
This was thus far my only work experience in Switzerland, based on which I’ve concluded our working cultures to be rather similar. The only actual culture shocks would have probably been the longer weekly hours expected over here, cost of public transport, and the culture of taking the lunch break together with colleagues to socialise. The longer workdays in conjunction with necessary travel time indeed left not all that much free time to play with – on the upside, however, public transport reaches virtually every nook and cranny within the entire country and provides considerable ease in getting wherever you want to visit over your evenings and weekends.
Apart from Houdini’s Quest itself with its plentitude of escape rooms I would have to most warmly recommend visiting the Swiss version of Heureka – Technorama – in nearby Winterthur, as well as the local lookout point of Bäumli. Wintherthur also sports a store of Finnish delicacies (for tourist prices), in case your cravings for salmiakki or hapankorppu get too strong (and they very well might)! Around Christmas time tiny Wienachtsmärt or Christmas markets pop up that will at least ease the sense of homesickness with glüehwii (mulled wine) and maybe even a cosy little open fire. While at it, why not try to get your hands on some steaming “fondue brot” to go, and you’re well on your way to becoming a happy local!
You will manage very well with English or high German in Switzerland, even euro currency is often accepted, and cash money is valid virtually everywhere – even on the bus. Some savings would probably be a good safety net for spare time spending and shopping, depending of course what exactly one is interested in investing in.
While I muchly enjoyed roleplaying the regular everyday working life, many a local landmark and attraction is still awaiting my arrival. What my exchange also ultimately lacked was contact with other students and internationals in a similar life situation. ESN does run a group both in Winterthur and Zürich, but this time around I decided not to extend inquiries as to whether I as an intern would count as an “actual” exchange student so as to participate in their activities. From what I saw about their events on Instagram, though, I would highly recommend getting involved!
Comments